Re: America’s Impending Master Class …

[quote=ckessel]

Americans alive today have simply grown lazy consuming 25% of the worlds energy and assuming it will always be that way. Change is good and it is coming. A few of us are trying to get the word out and create a community of like minded folks. We’ll see how we do. At some point we could see revolution but spoiled people usually just throw tantrums and lack the wherewithall to actually create revolution.

[/quote]

I live in Hong Kong. And I can tell you this:

Americans are going to soon see “their lunch and dinner eaten” by the savings countries in the East. Next time oil prices take off, they are going to jump and keep going, because the US dollar is going to be falling. That will put Dollar oil prices into the stratosphere. I expect $400 a barrel, and more than $10 per gallon for gasoline.

Everyone tells me that it is “political suicide” for a US politician to talk about imposing a higher tax on gasoline or imported oil. All those suburban voters will not have it. They want nothing to threaten their wasteful suburban living arrangement. So if the change can not be brought about through intelligent actions, anticipating the changes that are needed. Then the blow is going to have to be delivered by the market, in higher, much higher oil prices.

People will scream and complain and ask the government to help. But they have been blind, in denial of an obvious truth of limited oil resources. The hard and painful blow will be the wake-up call that they should have been heeding years ago.

For those who are aware, there is still time to prepare, and begin to change your lives before this INEVITABLE SHOCK of much higher dollar oil prices arrives. I wonder how many will heed the warning?

WHY DO I SAY THIS?

Sitting in HK, I can see that China wants oil too.

13 million cars were sold in China in 2009. That is more than were sold in the US. Over time, as China buys more new cars from one year to the next, Chinese oil demand will grow and grow. Guess what: they have $2.5 Trillion in FX reserves, including about half of that being denominated in US dollars. By contrast, the US has monumental debts, and is reliant upon “the kindness of strangers.” So China has the economic resources to buy the oil it needs. And if the dollar falls against the Chinese Rmb, the China will just have a more powerful claim on the oil it wants. And US oil consumers will struggle to find more dollars to pay higher prices.

The shortsightedness of American oil consumers, and the lack of courage amongst US polticians has put the country into this bind, a dangerous oil addiction. I big price will be paid before a balance is restored.